The ancients and Quantitative Easing

Jan, 29 2015
Author: newsroom

What would Aristidis say about the European Central Bank’s decision for Quantitative Easing?

This is not the first time Greece has been flung into crisis or experienced hardship. Back in 483BC, a second Persian invasion loomed over Greece when a massive seam of silver was found at Lavrion. Athenian statesmen Aristidis and Themistocles locked horns as to whether to invest in warships or to distribute the proceeds equally among Athens’ citizens. Themistocles won by arguing that distributing silver would only raise the prices of everyday goods and so the ships were built.

If Aristeidis were around today, he’d say that 60 bln euros of bond purchases a month represents around 2 trillion euros worth of purchases per year for each of the 350 million people of the eurozone. If that was directed equally, using QE, then it would create inflation.